Single best (under-rated) Batman story arc?

[son of booyah]

t hedge coke recommended 'The Executioner Wore Stiletto Heels' from the Milligan/Aparo run, and I'd have to forward her recommendation.

[Minerboh]

I strongly believe that Court Of Owls was a bit underrated.

[ViewtifulJC]

I strongly believe that Court Of Owls was a bit underrated.

A super popular, recent story that sold 100,000 copies and just barely missed the top 10 Greatest Batman Stories of all-time on the CSBG poll...I don't think you know what underrated means.

[Mgoldman14]

Noel is very good

[son of booyah]

Noel is very good

Amen to that, love that book.

[son of booyah]

A super popular, recent story that sold 100,000 copies and just barely missed the top 10 Greatest Batman Stories of all-time on the CSBG poll...I don't think you know what underrated means.

I would classify CoO as being decidedly OVERrated.

[InformationGeek]

It's surprisingly underrated despite the fact that Scott Snyder worked on it, but I really loved Gates of Gotham. Really enjoyed the characters and their interactions between one another, the action, the history, and the story itself. It's pretty dang good.

I also really enjoyed Batman: Streets of Gotham arc where Damien and Abuse teamed up and took down Mr. Zasas'z child fighting ring. Really great stuff (though does it count since it focuses more on Robin instead of Batman?).

[Minerboh]

A super popular, recent story that sold 100,000 copies and just barely missed the top 10 Greatest Batman Stories of all-time on the CSBG poll...I don't think you know what underrated means.

I can fully explain what i consider underrated
It didn't had the support that other stories had. There's not so much discussion regarding the storyline as much as i catch discussions for other storylines and i find pretty strange that DC choose to animate other stories (see that crappy Damian flick) instead of this.

[BleedBlack]

Tons of great suggestions here
My vote goes to "The Last Arkham" in Shadow of the Bat #1-4.
I'd like to give a mention to "Anarky!" from Shadow #s 40 and 41, as well. A personal favorite of mine. Alan Grant was wicked. Those British writers have a great handle on Batman and his alter ego.

[Naked Bat]

Blades and batman year 100 are indeed totally amazing!

[Triskelle]

In underrated terms, I'll go with Blind Justice, it was a three parter that gave us a glimpses at Bruce's lost years, introduced Ducard, had a bit of proto-Knightfall thing going on with Bruce's crippling injury and a replacement blonde Batman, had an interesting villain with some terrifying weapons, corporate corruption right under Bruce's nose because he's too busy beating up mentals in his pervert suit, and an ending with a deliciously awkward scene between Bruce and Gordon which questioned if Batman was even needed any more.

Considering all the problems with the film version of Batman he scripted, it's amazing to consider it was written by Sam Hamm.

[officersmile1466]

One early Batman comic I read that has stuck with me is a Legends of The Dark Knight story called Going Sane. It's basically the idea of, if the Joker actually "won" (meaning finally killing Batman) what would he actually do with his life? The story charts how Joker basically shuts down his psychotic personality and buries all memory of it in order to lead a normal life. Things go haywire once Batman inevitably returns.

Going Sane isn't perfect, but it's a fascinating look at the Joker and intentionally or not, fits in wonderfully with Grant Morrison's "Super Sanity" theory on Joker (namely that every version ever of Joker is the same guy because he's capable of rebuilding his entire personality given the right circumstances).

I was pleasantly shocked when a barely known story like Going Sane sneaked into the lovely new hard cover "The Joker: A Celebration of 75 Years". Hopefully this encourages people who think that only A-list writers like Morrison, Moore and Snyder have anything of note to say about the Joker.

[Naked Bat]

Blind Justice was great. I love how it focus on Bruce's journey. also, the characterization is vastly different from the one in the movie. Here, Sam writes a Bruce Wayne who is well rounded and really human, not just a façade.


Going Sane was great, but I think it could have been even better with better art. I like how it shows how compassionate Batman is.